Hulk Hogan is scheduled to announce his retirement on the “Tonight Show” on Thanksgiving night. Word spread among WCW employees of Hogan’s decision to “retire” the day of the World War 3 pay-per-view. WCW announcers made a big deal out of Hogan not entering himself in the battle royal despite his title aspirations. By the next day on Nitro, the announcers pushed several times during the program that Hogan had a major announcement to make on the Tonight Show which would explain his absence from World War 3.
In reality, Hogan and Eric Bischoff came to the conclusion that he had been overexposed to the point of being ineffective. Hogan has a history of not staying too long past the stage where he is clearly hindering business, as not to ever lose the image of being the perennial top star in wrestling. Sources indicate that Hogan, in recent months, began to realize his drawing power was dying, but said that WCW was paying him too much per appearance at Nitro for him to justify taking time off, even though it would be best for his longevity.
When the Nitro ratings sank well below Raws (losing nine of the last ten weeks by a sizable average margin) and when the Halloween Havoc buyrate was half of expectations, it was clear to everyone change was necessary. Bischoff had been confiding in people in WCW in recent months that he knew Hogan was overexposed and becoming less of a draw, so it didn’t come as a surprise to many that Hogan is at least taking time off.
And that is the issue everyone was debating: How long will Hogan’s “retirement” last? To Hogan’s credit, he’s in his 40s and is a huge wrestling star and he has never played the “retirement” card before. Now, though, is an opportune chance. He can say he is leaving wrestling because he is serious about running for president. When Hogan saw on the news that Jesse Ventura was projected to win the election in Minnesota, Hogan apparently said to his wife, “I’m ten times more popular than he is; I should run for president.”
The prevailing attitude behind the scenes in WCW is that any change is good right now. Morale is extremely low, not just because ratings are down, but because everyone believes WCW has the talent to be successful, but lack of leadership and excessive politics are getting in the way.
Kevin Nash headlines Starrcade against Goldberg and is expected to win the WCW Title. In essence he will get a chance to be the top dog in WCW, a position he has lobbied for since he entered WCW. At 39 years old, Nash knows his peak years as a potential drawing card are now. He was the top wrestler in the WWF for a year during a time when the WWF was struggling; he wasn’t able to turn around the company. On this run atop WCW, he will not only headlines cards, but he will have tremendous influence behind the scenes. In fact, he booked the World War 3 battle royal and will be involved on a day-to-day basis with the overall booking scheme of the promotion.
Nash is seen as one of the brighter minds in wrestling and has leadership qualities. It is those qualities that led to him being seen as a threat to Hogan. Bischoff was forced, in essence, to choose between siding closely with Hogan or Nash. Last year Bischoff flat-out said Hogan was choice because Hogan was a proven draw in the past.
Hogan, most expect, is going to watch WCW closely and return under one of two conditions – either when WCW gets hot again and he wants in on part of the action or when Nash fails to spark increases in business and he can be seen as the savior. “Vegas odds” seem to peg his return for six months from now, but all anyone can do is guess.
No one seems sure whether Bischoff initiated the idea of Hogan taking time off from WCW or if it was Hogan’s idea. It may have been mutual since it became the obvious move to make. There are also differing versions of Hogan’s contractual situation. Some say he is locked up for around two years, but others say he has escape clauses built in. If he can leave WCW, there will be rumors that he will be heading a start-up promotion by Fox or returning to the WWF. McMahon actually had some nice things to say about Hogan in a newspaper article this month. Introducing Hogan’s needy ego into the WWF locker room now would probably be more of a distraction than a benefit.
